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阳台 (yáng tái) — balcony; porch

Definition

noun
balconyporch
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 阳台。
    Zhàn zài yáng tái shàng kě yǐ kàn dào yuǎn chù de shān.
    Standing on the balcony you can see the mountains in the distance.
  • 阳台，。
    Wǒ men de yáng tái cháo nán, dōng tiān yě hěn nuǎn huo.
    Our balcony faces south, so it's warm even in winter.
  • 阳台。
    Xià tiān wǒ men cháng zài yáng tái shàng chī wǎn fàn.
    In summer we often have dinner on the balcony.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

阳yángsun
台táiplatform

阳台 pairs 阳 (sun) and 台 (platform), originally an open platform that catches sunlight.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陽; 阳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阜阜fùhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng陽yáng
Same sound today

In the traditional form 陽, 阜 shows a hill and 昜 is the older character for the word, tied to sunshine and the sound; simplified 阳 is a later shorthand.

Open 阳 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Home & Housing

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